While Homecoming Weekend is known for its rambunctious tailgates and the crowning of a king and queen, the Department of Performing Arts has started its own tradition: the Instant Laughter comedy show. In its second year, the show, put on by students in the department, hosted two nights of improvisational comedy for peers, faculty and alumni.
Hosted by junior Winston Koone, the show was made up of a variety of sketches, from “Death in a Minute”, in which the actors needed to play a scene in which they die in as close to a minute as possible, to “Shared Story”, in which the players built a story off one another’s dialogue.
In order to keep the show appropriate and the players in line, sophomore Anna Weis acted as referee, blowing the whistle on any “foul play” and doling out the appropriate punishment. For example, Weis made freshman Jack Vincenty die creatively when he implied that a little girl would be at a fraternity party.
Fred Rubeck, chair of the Department of Performing Arts, worked with his players for a month in preparation, teaching them games for the show and having them get to know each other.
“We try out a whole bunch of different games that we can put into the show,” Rubeck said. “Then we decided which ones work best for this group and tried to set up a list of things we’re going to have happen each night that will have variety to it.”
Helping Rubeck in the show’s preparation was his assistant director, senior Sean Liang, who is no stranger to comedy. Liang spent the summer improving his own improvisational techniques with the Chicago-based group Second City, which has been home to famous faces like Tina Fey and Steve Carell.
“I acted as a coach to the improv team,” Liang said. “I applied what I learned at Second City here and helped (the group) work through improv exercises.”
Of the players, three of them – junior Jared Allen, sophomore Sam Jones and junior Caroline Klidonas – were returning from last year’s show, while Vincenty, sophomore Ariadne Vickers-Davis and freshman Rebecca Hurd were rookies to the production. The month of rehearsal was especially important for the new players, according to Hurd.
“(When we played games), we have really gotten to know each other, which always helps with improv,” she said. “You have to be comfortable with the people around you.”
All that practice appeared to pay off, culminating in a show that had laughter ringing off the walls in Yeager Recital Hall. And, as promised by Rubeck, the players used plenty of audience suggestions to fuel their games, from death by unicorn during “Death in a Minute” to using dialogue written by audience members in a game called “Slip Up.”
“(The audience reaction last year) made us want to do it again,” Rubeck said. “And you learn a lot from doing it for an audience, what things work well.”
And while this kind of show could be done at any time of the year, Rubeck said an improv show during Homecoming is an easy event to create for the weekend, and it gives the department a chance to thank its donors.